If Only for an Instant
by pinetree13
Summary: one-shot. River always waits for the Doctor. But he always shows up, and she knows he always will. When she looks at him, she knows that everything will turn out for the best.


**I'm writing this one due to a suggestion from 'Anon'. Thanks for the review! If anyone else has a suggestion, feel free to leave it in a review. So if you have something you want to see, you know what to do.**

They were running, her and the Doctor, just like they always did. Even though their lives were on the line, neither of them could help but laugh. They finally caught sight of the little blue box and rushed inside, locking the door. Once safe, River, still laughing, looked over at the Doctor. He had that same youthful expression in his eyes that he always got at times like these, even though he was nearly 1000 years old. She loved these times, and she wished she could stay here forever.

Then she woke up.

The light of the TARDIS was replaced by the dim grey light seeping through the tiny window in her cell in Stormcage. Walls now rose around her, enclosing her. But the worst part was that she was alone. Completely and utterly alone.

He had only been gone a month, why should she be upset? The Doctor had left her here for longer before. However, she couldn't help but feel the weight of loneliness as she let out a deep sigh. Reluctantly, she sat up. _Don't lose hope. He'll come back. He always comes back._

As if on cue, River heard the familiar _vworp vworp _of the TARDIS engines, and jumped to her feet, nearly trembling with excitement. But she was mentally preparing herself. After all, this may not be _her _Doctor. He may not completely know who she is yet. At this point, she didn't know if she could take that.

The Doctor popped his head out and, after assuring himself that he had landed in the right place, dismounted. River wanted so much to run and kiss him through the bars, but she stood her ground, not showing him her emotions.

"River Song, it's been way too long," said the Doctor happily.

"I could say the same to you," she replied, with only a small grin.

They both knew she was way happier than she acted, so he played along. "Doctor Song, to my knowledge I haven't seen you for a month. I thought you'd be happy to see me." He said all this with a sly, sarcastic smile.

His words immediately registered in her mind: it had been a month for both of them. Once again, she didn't get ahead of herself. "A month, you say? And what exactly was the last thing we did together?"

"I believe we went dancing in 1900s Paris."

At this she gasped. This _was _her Doctor! She no longer had the will to control herself. She ran up and pulled him into a kiss through the bars. Several moments later, he broke away smiling to say, "It might be easier if I unlocked the door." He took out his sonic to quickly open the door before picking up where they had left off.

Once again, it was the Doctor who broke away several minutes later, breathless now. "So what do you want to do tonight, dear?"

She smiled widely, still just happy that he was here. "I was thinking a planet, maybe with monsters and running."

"Well that's good, because odds are that we would have been going somewhere like that anyway." River laughed at this all-too-true statement.

They took off in the TARDIS, heading to wherever they needed to go. Consequently, neither of them knew exactly where they had landed. That was fine; they liked to find out for themselves anyway.

Of course, River got out her gun right away, just in case. The Doctor saw this and said, "Must you always bring the gun? Most of the time we end up running, that's how it starts."

"It's okay. I'm kind of in the mood for running today." Even though she was smiling sarcastically, she was completely serious.

After a few minutes of the Doctor practically begging her to put her gun away—and her not listening—he finally just decided to grab it from her. As expected, this was not a good idea. River had tried to warn him that it was cocked, but he obviously didn't hear her and accidentally fired a shot somewhere behind her.

As the Doctor stood there with flushed cheeks and a guilty expression on his face, River fixed him with a stern look that said, _When we're back on the TARDIS, you're dead._ Now, she turned around to inspect the damage he'd done.

There was now a smoking bullet hole in the window of a very large, very important-looking building. Only seconds later, River heard the alarms sound, as she knew they would. She had time to glare at the Doctor once more before he shouted, "Run!"

She did as he said, heading back to the TARDIS. No matter how irritated with him she was, though, she couldn't help but laugh when she was running with him. When he saw this, he began to laugh too. Then they were safe onboard the blue box.

Out of breath from both laughing and running, River looked up at the Doctor. He had that same expression on that she saw in her dream, and in that instant she was completely happy. She didn't think about the fact that their time together was limited. That could wait for another time. She was happy because she realized that no matter how much she suffered or was hurt, she could look up and see his face, and know that everything would be perfect, if only for an instant.

**Sometimes checking reviews is the best part of my day. I know, it's kind of sad. But if you want to make my day, all you have to do is take a couple minutes to tell me what you think.**


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